


6, Rue de Seine

by macrontrudeaus



Category: Political RPF, Political RPF - Canadian 21st c., Political RPF - France 21st c.
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-12-03 07:48:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11527788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/macrontrudeaus/pseuds/macrontrudeaus
Summary: Justin has just moved in his new apartment, which happens to be right across the hall from Emmanuel.





	6, Rue de Seine

Emmanuel runs a hand through his hair nervously and knocks tentatively at the door of the only young person who lives on his floor. The guy he has in mind has just moved to their building and Emmanuel has crossed him a couple times on the stairs. All Emmanuel remembers about him is that he's quite tall and has curly brown hair. He hasn't introduced himself yet and Emmanuel would have had no intention of being the first one to knock on his door... if he weren't so desperate. He's fiddling with his flash drive, hoping his neighbour is at home. When the door in front of him finally opens a couple minutes after the first knock, though, Emmanuel is taken aback by the sight in front of him. The mysterious new neighbour is indeed quite tall, his hair looks messy (as if he had just thrown on a tee shirt) yet he still looks pulled together. Emmanuel has never noticed just how attractive the mysterious new neighbour really is. He also looks surprised to see Emmanuel, which is understandable. He must be two to three years older than Emmanuel is, at least.

“Um… hi?”

“Hello! I'm so sorry to disturb you, I know this might seem weird, I assure you it is out of character for me to randomly knock at other people's doors.”

“It's okay.” The tall guy also has the most amazing smile, Emmanuel notices. “Are you in trouble or something? Please tell me you haven’t set your kitchen on fire.”

“No, I haven’t set my kitchen on fire. Not that I am aware of,” he laughs. “I am in trouble, actually. You see, I have this paper, it’s due tomorrow and my printer's dead. May I borrow yours, if you have one?"

Madame Masse finds herself walking upstairs to her floor, the third, just in time to hear Emmanuel’s question. She smiles at the scene before her, deciding to tease the young boy she has already grown quite fond of. "Emmanuel! Are you disturbing this young man because you forgot to buy coffee again and you’re planning to stay up all night revising for an exam?"

Emmanuel turns around to smile at her, shaking his head before chuckling softly. "No, Madame, I haven't. I think I've learned my lesson after last time, it’s necessary for a student to always have some coffee to spare."

“You’re finally learning! Good day, boys!”

“Thank you,” murmurs Emmanuel.

“To you too, Madame,” adds Justin.

She nods and waves goodbye, eyeing what must be the new face in the building her husband saw a couple days before. "Have fun, you two! Whatever you’re doing, don't be too loud," she called from upstairs.

Emmanuel faces Justin again; an amused expression is painted all over his features before he bursts out laughing. Justin can't  help himself but laughing along with him. He notices that Emmanuel covers his mouth when he laughs. Justin finds it cute, along with his slight lisp.

“So, back to the paper...”

“Yes, I would be forever grateful if I could borrow your printer.”

“You can most definitely borrow it. Come on in,” Justin smiles at Emmanuel as he opens the door to welcome him inside his apartment. “I'm Justin, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, I'm –”

"Emmanuel, right?"

Emmanuel nods. He is so bad at remembering names that he’s shocked Justin remembers his from hearing it only once and in a conversation he wasn’t really involved in.

“Pleasure to meet you, Emmanuel.”

"You've moved in recently, right?"

"Yes, just a couple weeks ago," he replies as he takes Emmanuel's flash drive from his hands, plugs it into his laptop and opens the folder.

Emmanuel nods. “From?”

“Montreal, Canada.”

Emmanuel smirks. “That explains the accent.”

Justin laughs, eyeing Emmanuel quickly. “Is it _that_ obvious?”

“Not really, I just wanted to tease you.”

“I'm relieved,” he chuckles. “File name?”

“Let’s see… it should be just _Nietzsche_.”

Justin raises an eyebrow. “Are you studying Philosophy?”

Emmanuel nods. “I am, it’s my first year.” He bites his bottom lip, trying to figure out a bit more about his new, handsome neighbour whose existence he basically ignored until then. “Are you a student, too?”

“I am,” he nods. “English major. I'm here for an exchange program.” Justin looks up at him from his chair with a small smile, waiting for his printer to finish before unplugging his hard drive.

“Sounds cool.”

Justin hands Emmanuel his paper and smiles. “Nine months in Paris are more like a dream come true for me.”

“Well, I'm glad to hear you're loving it here.”

“Me too. I love that it’s impossible to live in Paris and ever get bored.”

“I get bored quite often, actually.”

Justin laughs, shaking his head. “Well, maybe you’re not hanging out with the right people.”

“Perhaps.” Emmanuel holds Justin’s teasing glance, his slight smirk deepening slowly. “Well, I'll leave you alone now. I really don’t know how to thank you.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Please, if there's anything you need, do not hesitate to come knocking at my door. It's right across the hall, after all.”

Justin smiles politely, following Emmanuel on his way out. “Will do,” he assures him.

“Thank you so much, again. You saved my life.”

“It's nothing, I swear. I'm glad I could be helpful!”

“I will be forever grateful nonetheless.”

Justin leans on the door frame and Emmanuel is quite sure he feels his legs weaken ever so slightly at the sight of the Canadian’s amused smirk.

“Okay, well... good night!” Emmanuel smiles at him and waves goodbye before disappearing behind his own door.

“See you around!” Justin waves back and laughs as Emmanuel closes the door behind him. "I hope."

 

* * *

 

“Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck… this can’t be happening!”

Justin empties his pockets again. His wallet’s there, a few receipts, paper tissues – but his keys are missing. His head rests against his door. He is so close, he got there safe and sound when he could barely walk after the amount of drinks he had and yet he can’t get into his apartment. He knows there is one person and one person only he can go to for help, but he’s so drunk and terrified he’ll make a complete fool of himself. He has no choice, after all. Justin tries to walk straight on without feeling the need to throw up all over the floor and sighs in relief when he reaches Emmanuel’s door. He knows that his neighbour is probably asleep, so after a couple knocks on his door he feels obliged to ring the doorbell.

“Please, please… be at home,” he slurred to himself.

A couple minutes later, a very sleepy Emmanuel opens the door. He looks surprised to find Justin there, which is understandable for the Canadian.

“Hey.”

“Hi, Emmanuel. I’m sorry, I...” Justin closes his eyes for a second. “I went out, then came back. My keys are not in my pockets.”

Emmanuel smiles and motions for Justin to come inside. Justin can still register, even in his very drunk state, that apparently Emmanuel only sleeps in his boxers. That is all he is wearing. He looks good enough to eat.

“We’ll call the locksmiths in the morning. You can stay here tonight.”

Justin sighs. Emmanuel is his new favourite person. He says that out loud.

Emmanuel laughs. “How many drinks did you have?”

“Lost count,” replies the Canadian, taking his shoes off.

“Do you need something to sleep in?”

“Nah, it’s fine. I’ll just lay down on your sofa.”

“You’re not sleeping on the sofa, Justin. Don’t be ridiculous.”

Emmanuel turns on his bedroom light and walks to the sofa, helping Justin get up. He walks with him to his bed and helps him sit down. “Can you take off your clothes?”

“I can try,” Justin mumbles as he watches Emmanuel fetch him a tee shirt and a pair of sweatpants. Justin lays down, unbuttons his pants and then lets his arms drop to the bed. “I can’t.”

Emmanuel laughs, helping him getting out of his clothes and changing into clean ones. They are slightly too small for him, which makes Justin smile to himself. He'd love to see Emmanuel wearing his clothes, they'd be slightly too big for him.

“You don’t have to be so kind.”

“I want to be,” Emmanuel reassures him. “You saved my life, remember?”

“I do. You smell good.”

“Thanks. Are you going to be sick?”

“Nah… don’t think so.”

“Okay, we can sleep now, then.”

“Finally.”

Emmanuel joins Justin on the bed and raises an eyebrow at him when he gets pulled close to the Canadian’s chest, his arms around him.

“Justin.”

“Mmh?”

“Are you spooning me?”

“Yes. You’re tiny. Little spoon material.”

“I’m not tiny!”

“Shh, it’s alright. It’s cute.”

Emmanuel smiles to himself. “You’re not going to remember any of this when you wake up tomorrow morning, are you?”

No response.

Emmanuel chuckles, closing his eyes contently as he drifts back to sleep.

 

* * *

 

Justin wakes up the next day with a terrible hungover. He walks to the living room and finds Emmanuel sat on his sofa, reading a book.

“Good morning.”

“Hey… do you happen to have the number of the locksmiths? I want to call them straight away, I don’t want to be in your way.”

“I’ve already called them, they’ll be here in a couple hours.”

Justin closes his eyes for a second. Emmanuel is a saint. “You’re too good to be true.”

“Maybe. Did you sleep well?”

“Absolutely, yes. How long have you been up?”

“A few hours.”

Justin looks at the clock. It’s 11:48. “You’re a morning person, I take it?”

Emmanuel nods, putting his book down. “How hangover are you?”

“Eh… quite.”

“Do you want something to eat? I would have made you breakfast, but I think this calls for an early lunch.” Emmanuel gets up and walk to the kitchen, pouring Justin a glass of water and a glass of apple juice. “Drink them both, you’ll need it.”

“Did you already have breakfast?”

“No, I was waiting for you to get up.”

“Emmanuel, you shouldn’t have…”

“It’s fine, I survived without it.”

Justin smiles at him, downing his glass of water.

“Now, it’s all up to personal preference, but I usually go for eggs when I’m hungover.”

“Sounds good.”

Justin watches Emmanuel cook and he’s yet again positively surprised by the guy in front of him. He seems to know exactly what he’s doing. Fifteen minutes later, Justin looks down at his plate: scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, avocado on toast. He’s never been more grateful for anything in his life other than the person sitting right in front of him.

“You’re an angel.”

“Shut up and eat your lunch,” Emmanuel teases him. “So, how much of what happened last night do you remember?”

“Very little, only the unfortunate lost keys situation.” And Emmanuel in his boxers, that is an image he won’t get out of his head anytime soon. That, he doesn’t actually say out loud.

Emmanuel frowns. Somehow, he’d hoped Justin would remember how they cuddled up as they slept the previous night. Shrugging it off, he laughs quietly. “Was it a fun night, at least?”

“Good question,” Justin laughs as well. “I really hope it was worth losing my keys God knows where…”

Emmanuel realises he likes hungover Justin, just as much as he liked drunk Justin. It’s weird, because he usually hates drunk people.

“You know, I never really asked you – how old are you, Emmanuel?”

“I’m twenty,” he replies. _Please, don’t think I’m too young._ “What about you?”

“I’m twenty-five,” Justin smiles.

Five years… that’s not too bad. Emmanuel hoped it wouldn’t be this much of an age gap, but he feels that Justin doesn’t really care that much. Emmanuel feels like he’s in a position of power – he knows Justin thinks he’s cute, he just doesn’t know whether Justin will act out on his feelings. He needs to find a way to get closer to him, without getting _too_ close. They go on doing some small talk until they finish their lunch. Justin offers to help Emmanuel wash the dishes, but Emmanuel forbids him to get close to the sink. Justin sits down and watches Emmanuel again, so happy to be there in his apartment. For once, his being a clumsy nerd has turned out to be useful.

“What do you want to do now?”

“I would love to go back to sleep, honestly.”

Emmanuel laughs. “Sounds like a good idea, come on.”

He turns the TV on but keeps it at a very low volume, picking a Netflix show to watch as Justin lays down next to him, his head almost in Emmanuel's lap. The French places a pillow underneath his head and Justin thanks him. Emmanuel feels like he can't let this opportunity slip away from him, so he starts running his fingers through Justin's hair softly. Justin lets out a quiet moan and smiles up at him. For Emmanuel, this is a small victory. He keeps running his fingers through the soft locks until he's sure that Justin has fallen asleep. 

The locksmiths arrive two hours later. Emmanuel is watching an episode of _House of Cards_ and Justin is napping on the sofa, next to him. Emmanuel doesn’t want to wake him up, he looks so peaceful, but he knows he has to. When he says goodbye to Justin and watches him disappear behind his door, Emmanuel frowns. He already misses his quiet company.

 

* * *

 

Emmanuel climbs up the stairs as quickly as he possibly can. He's late to a meeting with his study group and he is very well aware of that. He would be right on time if he hadn’t forgotten his laptop at home. As soon as he manages to get his keys out of his bag, Justin climbs up the stairs as well.

“Emmanuel, hi!”

Emmanuel turns around and smiles at his neighbour, opening the door. “Hello there,” he grins.

“How’s your day been?”

“Full,” the French replies. “How about you?”

“Same,” Justin sighs. He knows he must do something to reach out to Emmanuel before watching him disappear behind his door, so he blurts out: “Look, I was just about to order some pizza and watch a movie, do you want to join me?”

Emmanuel frowns. “Believe me, Justin, I would love to. I’m just getting my laptop before heading out, we have a study group meeting tonight.”

Justin shrugs, trying to keep it cool. “That’s unfortunate. I’m sorry you’re stuck studying tonight.”

“Yeah, same,” Emmanuel laughs. “We can hang out another time, maybe? You know I’m pretty much always here, anyway.”

Justin grins and nods at him, opening his door as well. “I'd be more than glad to. Have a good night!”

“You too,” Emmanuel sighs. He quickly walks inside to retrieve his laptop before storming downstairs. He’s finally found a proper reason why he hates group projects.

 

* * *

 

Emmanuel is caught by surprise when he hears someone knocking on his door for the second time in a month. He groans, rubbing his eyes tiredly and fixing his hair quickly before answering the door. He smiles. It’s Justin, again. What’s about to come out of his mouth, though, is completely unexpected to Emmanuel.

“I know that you're enjoying yourself and there's no way in the world why you should stop doing whatever it is that you're doing, obviously. But please, _I beg you_ , could you not be so loud and maybe keep it down a little? I have this awful exam tomorrow that I'm never going to pass anyway but if I could at least focus a bit mo–” Justin is interrupted by the same loud noises he kept hearing before knocking on Emmanuel's door and his eyes widen. “Right… you’re fully clothed. You answered the door too quickly. It’s not you!”

Emmanuel watches him with a confused look, which then turns into a knowing one. “You thought I was the one...?”

Justin nods, groaning in frustration. “Who the hell is it, then?”

“I have a theory – I know it’ll sound unreal – but it's probably Madame Masse and her husband.”

“The two old people from upstairs? Really?”

Emmanuel nods. Justin sighs. The loud noises don't seem to be stopping anytime soon.

“Come in,” says Emmanuel, opening his door to Justin.

“No, Emmanuel. Thanks, but I should go back inside and hit the books.”

“Grab the books and take them with you. I'm working on another paper and I was just about to make some coffee,” he offered. “Also, I have great sound-cancelling headphones that you might need more than I do right now.”

Justin considers Emmanuel's proposal for a few seconds, unsure of what he should do. He’s been thinking of his younger, really cute neighbour in many different ways since they slept side by side the night he lost his keys. Maybe the sound-cancelling headphones can help, but Emmanuel himself can end up being his biggest distraction. He needs to keep things casual between them anyway, so he walks back into his apartment quickly to retrieve his books and his notes. He sits across the table from Emmanuel’s laptop and smiles at the headphones that are already waiting for him, along with his cup of coffee.

“I can't believe you accused me of having sex like an animal and letting the whole building know.”

“I had no idea two old people could be so loud, honestly.”

“Well, I know I can get pretty loud from time to time, but this is pushing it a bit too far.” Emmanuel laughs. He looks closely to catch Justin’s reaction and feels quite happy with himself when he notices that Justin is looking down, trying to swallow his coffee without looking too shocked.

“Definitely – this is _definitely_ pushing it too far,” Justin mumbles. Damn Emmanuel, now all Justin can think about is ways to give him a reason to be this loud. He’s never going to pass tomorrow’s exam. "Wasn't she the one who told _us_ to not be too loud?"

"Oh my God, that's true! I can't believe it," exclaims Emmanuel, laughing.

He sits down and tries to get his head back on his paper. Justin must try and shift his focus back on his books, too. All sorts of scenarios can work but those in which he tries to shut Emmanuel up to make sure he can't disturb their neighbours. Justin puts the headphones on and sighs to himself – he really has it bad for the young man sitting right in front of him and he has no idea how to make the first move.

 

* * *

 

Justin answers the door, secretly hoping it’s Emmanuel. After all, who else can it be? He knows no-one else in the building, apart from him and his sex-crazed old neighbours from upstairs. They’re two funny people and he’d be more willing to spend time with them if it weren’t for the fact that he remembers exactly the sound they make each time they… Justin doesn’t ever want to think about that. Emmanuel is holding a plastic bag in one hand and he’s wearing ripped, black skinny jeans and a blue shirt. His hair is styled to perfection. Justin is speechless, it’s hard for him to even say ‘hello’. He's thankful he hasn't changed out of the clothes he went to class with, at least.

“Eurovision is on tonight and we both know your TV is much better than mine.”

“Euro- _what_?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t know what Eurovision is.”

“I might have to disappoint you this time.”

Emmanuel rolls his eyes. “I’m afraid I can’t let you go back to Canada without rectifying the situation. What will people think when you'll tell them you’ve lived in France for nine months but you don’t know what Eurovision is, Justin?”

“Looks like we might have to do something about that, then.” Justin smirks.

Emmanuel narrows his eyes playfully at him. “It looks like it. I brought popcorn and vodka.”

Justin opened his door. “Mi casa es su casa.”

“Do you speak Spanish?”

“Yes, of course. I can say burrito, nachos, salsa…”

“I get it, you must be pretty fluent, then.”

“Oh, you have _no_ idea.”

 

* * *

 

“You know, I never would have taken you for someone who likes this sort of thing.”

“It’s all everyone on the internet is going to talk about for the next three months, I want to be informed.”

“It’s weird, I think I’ve only ever heard classical music coming from your apartment.”

“I can do pop music from time to time.”

Justin raises an eyebrow, stuffing his mouth with popcorn. “Really? Like?”

“That band my friends always listen to…”

“Mmh, you don’t even remember how they’re called?”

“It’s right on the tip of my tongue!”

“You’re losing your credibility.”

“D… D… Daft Funk?”

"You mean _Daft Punk_ ," Justin laughs. “Wouldn’t have taken you for a Daft Punk fan.”

“Well, they’re decent enough for pop music standards.”

“Yet you’re here watching Eurovision and loving it…”

Emmanuel throws a couple popcorns at Justin. “Stop making fun of me!”

“Hey, do you want some of that vodka you brought?”

Emmanuel nods and Justin gets up to get glasses. He opens the fridge and scans what is in it. “Is vodka tonic good?”

“Sounds great,” replies Emmanuel from Justin’s sofa.

The Canadian brings everything back to the living room and leaves it on the coffee table,  but Emmanuel's the one who starts making the drinks.

“I could have made the drinks.”

“I don't trust you that well yet. You’re one of those people who would get me drunk after two of these.”

Justin laughs, accepting the glass from Emmanuel. “That’s not true. I bet you’re one of those people who can’t hold their liquor.”

Emmanuel giggles and nods. “That is 100% true, which is why I almost never drink.”

“Why’d you bring vodka, then?”

“I thought you might appreciate it. I did steal your sofa and your television for a whole night, after all.” Emmanuel smirks up at Justin, taking a sip from his glass.

“I don’t mind. Actually, I’m quite happy to have you here.”

“I’m happy to be here.”

And it’s there. The playful stare, the connection, the rush of adrenaline, they're all there. Justin could lean forward and kiss Emmanuel after months of pining after him, improvised study sessions and seeing him in nothing but his underwear in a drunken state, but he doesn’t. He has no idea why, but he can’t bring himself to do it yet and neither does Emmanuel.

 

* * *

 

“Hey, do you want some food?”

“Mmh, not really.”

“You sure? That’s your third glass and all you’ve had is popcorn.”

The smile on Emmanuel’s lips is enough to assure Justin of the fact that he’s already drunk. “You’ve had four and you’ve had nothing to eat, either.”

“That’s why I was asking you if you wanted to eat.”

“Do _you_ want to eat?” Emmanuel’s face is incredibly close to Justin’s and it’s affecting the Canadian in ways he doesn’t necessarily want to admit.

Justin shakes his head. “Not really.”

“We’re good, then.” Emmanuel reaches out and brushes a curl away from Justin’s face, the same stupid smirk is on his face and Justin forgets all about how to be smooth in life. He forgets everything.

“There is something else I want,” he whispers.

“What’s that?” Emmanuel’s hand is now at the nape of his neck and Justin can’t bring himself to stop his lips from gravitating to Emmanuel’s until they finally collide. It’s glorious. Emmanuel is pulling him closer and he’s kissing him back with even more intensity. They pull back only to get some air, staring at each other with a stupid smile on their face. Neither one of them wants to remind the other that they’re drunk, they both know it wouldn’t make a difference. The kissing happens every now and then throughout the night, until they both fall asleep on Justin’s sofa. When they wake up the next morning, Emmanuel is basically on top of Justin. A small peck on Emmanuel’s lips turns into making out, making out turns into Justin picking Emmanuel up and finally taking him to his bedroom.

 

* * *

 

“You really can get quite loud, after all.”

“Mmh?”

“Remember when we heard Madame Masse and her husband?”

Emmanuel laughs, nodding.

“You said you could get loud, but not like them.”

“Did I really?”

“You did. It’s all I could think about while I studied. I wanted to scream at you for being the most amazing distraction I could ask for.”

Emmanuel smirks, kissing Justin’s neck softly. “I’m glad it worked, then.”

Justin laughs, pulling him closer against his chest. “You cheeky little shit.”

“Says the one who spooned me after speaking to me only a couple times.”

“Hey, it was more than just a couple.”

“The times we said hello on our way in and out of the building don’t count.”

“If I recall correctly, you didn’t complain.”

Emmanuel’s mouth falls open in disbelief. “You remember?”

“Of course, I do.”

“And you have the audacity to call _me_ a little shit?”

 

**Author's Note:**

> I got this AU idea out of nowhere and developed it probably too quickly, but here it is. I hope you enjoyed reading, let me know what you think!


End file.
